Violin



G. G. GOING.

' VIOLIN.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1a. 1916.

1,329,594. Patented Feb. 3,1920.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS GEORGE G. GOING, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.

VIOLIN.

Application filed September 16, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoncn Gr. GOING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county of Middlesex and Stateof Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Violins, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to stringed musical instruments, and with respect to its more specific features, to violins and the like.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a practical construction of violin, wherein the longitudinal component of the tensile stress on the strings is taken oif the body of the violin.

Another object of the invention is to provide an efiicient construction of violin,

whereby it may be supported for being played, but without damping the vibration of the body of the violin.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which Will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the appli cation of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several figures Figure 1 is a front view of a violin showing one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view.

The numeral 1 indicates the body, or sound box, of a violin, and 2 the neck to which the body is connected, 3 indicating the tensioning keys, 4 the strings connected to keys 3 at one end, and 5 the bridge resting on the violin body and adapted to transmit vibration of the strings to said body. The numeral 6 indicates a rigid member, to which the opposite ends of the strings 4 are anchored. This member 6 is so constructed and is so related to the violin body as to take the direct tensile stress of the strings, so that any strain on the strings is transmitted to the sound box, or body, of the violin,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 192i).

Serial No. 120,432.

only through the bridge 5. Preferably the member 6 comprises upper and lower members or parts, the lower being indicated at 7 and connected to the upper part by an end member 8 which may be integral with the parts 6 and 7. These members are secured to the base 9 of the neck 2 at the point where .the violin body is secured thereto, and they gut connection 11 encircling a button 12 on the rigid member. The numeral 13 indicates a member between the tail-piece and the member 6, this member being adjustable longitudinally of the strings and interposed between the rigid member and the tail-piece, longitudinal adjustment of this member varying the pressure of the bridge 5 on the violin body.

By means of the foregoing construction the strings 4 may be tensioned to as high a degree as necessary without placing any longitudinal strain upon the sound box, or violin body. The only strain on the body is that due to the component of the string tension transmitted through the bridge 5, and this component may be varied by adjusting the position of the member 13. In this wise not only is the strain on the violin body greatly relieved, but said body is out of contact with non-vibrating parts for practically its entire extent, and unimpeded vibration thereof to a greater extent than heretofore is permitted, so that the tone and volume of the instrument is greatly improved.

In order that the bridge 5 may be interposed between the sound box and the strings intermediate of the anchored ends of the strings, a slot 14 is provided in the rigid support through which the bridge 5 may extend.

Thus by the above-described construction are accomplished, among others, the objects hereinbefore referred to.

' As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A musical instrument of the character described, comprising in combination, a sound boX, a rigid member attached to said sound box at one end thereof and otherwise free therefrom, and completely encircling the sound box from front to back, said rigid member being provided with means to which the strings may be attached, and a bridge bearing on said sound-box independently of said rigld member.

2. A violin comprlsing the usual parts and a U-shaped frame longitudinally encircling said body and secured thereto at the juncture of the neck and body and otherwise free therefrom, and a tail piece attached to the outside of said frame.

3. A violin comprising the usual parts and a rigid frame member longitudinally encircling the body but narrower than the latter and secured thereto adjacent the neck and otherwise free therefrom, and a tail piece for the strings attached to the outside of said frame, said frame being widened at its free end to constitute a chin rest.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE G. GOING. Witnesses D. B. Wns'rnv, JNO. A. RUFFIN. 

